Vitamin D may help patients with persistent asthma

A new study from Iran suggests that inhaled corticosteroids in combination with vitamin D supplementation could improve airway functions in patients with mild to moderate persistent asthma.

The randomized controlled trial tested pulmonary functions (forced expiratory volume in one second) and measured blood vitamin D concentrations of 130 patients with mild to moderate persistent asthma, aged 10 to 50 years, who used an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) alone or in combination with vitamin D (a single dose of 100,000 IU injected intramuscularly plus 50,000 IU orally per week) for 24 weeks (1). The study results showed that after 24 weeks the pulmonary function of the patients who had also received vitamin D was significantly better than the lung function of the patients who used only asthma medication.

The researchers commented that there seem to be synergistic effects of vitamin D supplementation and to asthma controllers on airway functions. Vitamin D is hypothesized to have some roles in innate and adaptive immunity, inflammation reduction, and remodeling (2). Therefore, it is supposed to affect the asthma phenotype, severity, and response to inhaled corticosteroids.

1. Arshi S. et al. The effects of vitamin D supplementation on airway functions in mild to moderate persistent asthma. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2014. pii: S1081-1206(14)00463–3.
2. Wöbke T. K. et al. Vitamin D in inflammatory diseases. Front Physiol. 2014; 5:244.